When you’re trying to save the world, who has time for romance novels and gossip magazines? If you’ve got some spare time over the long weekend or on your summer vacation, consider brushing up on the economic impacts of bicycling.

At Metro’s Quarterly Trails Forum earlier this week, Alta Planning and Design CEO Mia Birk made a presentation about the economic impact of trails.

After the meeting, Metro staff circulated a five-page handout titled, Economic Benefits of Bicycling Resources. The list was compiled by Alta (or at least it was on their letterhead).

With all the talk about the economy and jobs these days, I figured many of you would like to have this information at hand. With that in mind, I’ve shared a partial list of these important studies below. You can download the original PDF here.
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(The list is broken down by subject)

Property Value and Business Impacts

Dr. Kelly Clifton at Portland State University is currently working on a study that looks at if/how cycling customers and cycling infrastructure affect the business bottom line: http://www.pdx.edu/omc/tripgen

Meisel, Drew (2010). Bike Corrals: Local Business Impacts, Benefits and Attitudes. Portland State University School of Urban and Regional Planning. (PDF)

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2 Comments

Jessica RobertsJuly 1, 2011 at 8:05 am

I can confirm that Alta compiled the list, but we would be very happy to hear of any studies that should be added! Email me at jessicaroberts@altaplanning.com if you have any additions.

Sorry about long link, if it doesn’t work google velo-city 2011 meschik and you’ll find it. There have been a lot of papers about the economic benefits of cycling in the velo-city series over the years; it seems this topic is only now coming to the fore.